Coffs Trail Runners Rumble in the Jungle: 100km Ultra Results and Course Analysis

According to Coffs Coast News Of The Area, Coffs Trail Runners Inc just delivered the fifth annual Rumble in the Jungle to a record field of more than five hundred runners in Australia's Bindarri National Park — one hundred and twenty more entrants than 2025. Every distance sold out. The mud got worn like badges. This is what a working trail race looks like.

The 100km benchmark

The new headline distance is the 100km Ultramarathon — sold out before race day, hauling +3,000m of climbing into the Bindarri hinterland. Chris Lenkic crossed the line in 9:04:50. That time is now the floor. Every athlete who lines up next year will be measured against it, and most will fall short.

Clare Palmer, a CTR club member, took the women's 100km title and finished third outright in 11:43:30, smashing her own sub-12-hour goal by seventeen minutes. Sub-twelve on that terrain is a legitimate aerobic engine — not a good day, a trained one. Stop calling results like that "lucky."

What this course actually demands

Elevation is the obvious killer. But the real grind hides in the details: creek crossings, fire trail transitions, rainforest singletrack, and climbs that stretch four kilometers without letting up. Elize Strydom, running her first ultra at the 50km distance, called one of those hills "brutal." Sustained grade like that punishes underprepared quads and empty glycogen stores before the lungs even start complaining.

If you're building toward something like this, the lesson is unglamorous. Long climbs are a fueling problem before they're a fitness problem. You can have the legs and still bonk. Train the stomach to absorb calories on grade. Practice eating while your heart rate sits in zone three for hours on end. The athletes who finished strong at Rumble were not the ones who trained hardest — they were the ones who practiced eating.

The race also offered a sold-out 50km, plus 30km, 21km, and 8km courses, with a free 1km kids and family run around the Ulong Hall oval. Plenty of entry points. No excuses for sitting on the couch.

The community tax

Race Director Keelan Birch framed the event around the Ulong community — local businesses, residents, and volunteers carrying the load from pre-event prep through post-run pack-up. That's not sentimental filler. It's the reason the course feels safe enough to push hard on. Hydration stations where you actually need them. Crews who know the terrain. A finish line where strangers clap for you because the whole town showed up and worked.

Strydom said she crossed the line elated, custom wooden medal around her neck, already planning next year. CTR volunteer Chris Hamilton told NOTA the energy was still echoing through the hinterland after the dust settled. That's the part you can't grind into your legs — but you can sign up and show up for it.